ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Wednesday said that the federal government has decided to conduct a forensic audit of audio leaks attributed to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Senator Shaukat Tarin regarding the crucial International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

On Monday, two audio clips surfaced via TV channels and social media in which a man said to be Tarin can be heard guiding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab’s finance ministers to tell the federal government and the IMF that they would not be able to commit to a provincial budget surplus in view of the recent floods that have wreaked havoc in Pakistan.

Last week, KP Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra had written a letter to the Ministry of Finance conveying his administration’s inability to provide a provincial surplus this year.

Addressing a press conference, Tarar said that consultation was underway with the interior and law ministries. He said afterwards action would be taken as per the law.

The law minister said that legal action would be taken against those who went against the state or spoke against its interests.

He termed the former finance minister’s conversation as a matter of “hypocrisy and sedition” against the state and its interests.

He said that the government ministers undertook oaths at the time of appointment in which they pledged to only follow the law in discharging their duties instead of listening to anyone else.

He said it seemed the PTI’s KP Finance Minister Jhagra strayed from fulfilling his oath and the former finance minister (Tarin), whom this was not expected of, crossed all limits and prioritised politics over the State.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022